Prototyping
The trajectory of the project to its final form began with worlding exercises. The team speculated possible worlds that would embody the values we wanted to incorporate into the project. These values included that of breaking the hierarchies between humans and non-humans and creating a world where the planet heals from human-made damage. Thereby, we built a world wherein nature and technology intertwined to become a single force and work together. Given that technology is already very integrated into our lives, imagining a future without it didn’t appeal to us and thus, we wanted technology to be the bridge for more earth-centered living. The following are sketches from working exercises as we speculated living in this future.
Initial World Building
In this world, we imagined trees to be natural forms of street lights as they would become harbours for bioluminescent microbial communities.
Imagining A.M.R.S.A.
In imagining the robot itself, we began with design sketches that focussed on the functionality of the robot and in terms of its physical appearance we wanted it to be more closer to looking as part of nature.
Detailed World Building
We built more upon these sketches and imagined more about this world and the functions and interactions of the robot. The following are sketches built of the world wherein nature is now an integral part of living that it becomes part of human habitation, bridges, underground transportation systems as well as street lights.
Robot Function Building
As for the robot itself, we worked on imagining the functions of the robot and the following are sketches demonstrating the different functions of A.M.R.S.A.
A.M.R.S.A. in Action
After this, we worked on speculating the interactions of A.M.R.S.A with different environments. The following sketches speculate futures for the impact of A.M.R.S.A as it interacts with 1) metropolitan cities 2) superfund sites (canal) 3) ghost towns 4) sites affected by nuclear disasters.
Building A.M.R.S.A.
As for the physical features of A.M.R.S.A, inspiration was taken from nature and soft robots.
3D Modeling A.M.R.S.A.
The following 3d renderings were made to imagine these robots. We designed them in such a way that they change appearance according to the environment they are in so that they are able to serve the microbial communities in different environments in the most optimal manner.
Contextualizing A.M.R.S.A.
The following are renderings of these A.M.R.S.As in different environments.
Following A.M.R.S.A.
In order to relay all the stories and interactions of this world with ease, we explored animations and created a storyline that would demonstrate different interactions of A.M.R.S.A with its environment. The following are snippets from the animation.
